Two more candidates announce for PCUSA stated clerk’s race
The Layman Online, May 12, 2008
Two more candidates, the Rev. Dr. Winfield “Casey” Jones of Texas and the Rev. Dr. William P. Tarbell of South Carolina, have declared they will stand for election as stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s General Assembly.
Jones and Tarbell join previously announced candidate the Rev. Edward H. “Ed” Koster, stated clerk of the Presbytery of Detroit, in a contest against the Stated Clerk Nomination Committee’s nominee: the Rev. Gradye Parsons, associate stated clerk of the PCUSA.
The successor to the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the PCUSA’s stated clerk since 1991, will be elected at the denomination’s 218th General Assembly on June 21-28 in San Jose, Calif.
Jones, who previously ran for PCUSA stated clerk at the 2000 General Assembly, is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Pearland, Texas. He has served as pastor of Presbyterian churches in the Lone Star State since 1979, and he has also served on several presbytery committees.
According to a May 2000 article on his previous stated clerk candidacy, Jones is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina, which he attended as a Morehead Scholar. He studied law for a year before attending Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., where he received his doctor of ministry degree in 1979.
Jones said Friday he is finalizing the committee for his candidacy and will issue a news release within days.
Tarbell is pastor of Saluda Presbyterian Church in Saluda, S.C. He has served as pastor of Presbyterian churches in Missouri, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming since 1975.
A phone message left at Tarbell’s church by The Layman was not returned Friday.
Koster, whose candidacy was reported April 23 by The Layman, is a parish associate at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, Mich., and was pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor from 1976 to 1986. He has authored a dozen published articles about issues facing the church at national and local levels and is also an attorney in private practice since 1992 and a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War.
Parsons has served as associate stated clerk of the PCUSA General Assembly for the past eight years. Prior to that, he served as pastor of two churches in Tennessee for 15 years and was executive presbyter and stated clerk of Holston Presbytery for six years.
Jones, Koster, Parsons and Tarbell were among 14 people who applied to the Stated Clerk Nomination Committee to be considered for stated clerk. The committee announced Parsons as its nominee April 3 after a review and interview process. The other applicants had until May 7 to tell the committee whether they also intended to stand for stated clerk. Jones, Koster and Tarbell did so by written letter to the committee; Koster announced his candidacy shortly after the committee’s April 3 nomination, while Jones and Tarbell filed their declarations at the deadline.
Nominations for PCUSA stated clerk will be made to the 218th General Assembly on the evening of June 22, with the election to follow on the morning of June 27.
The stated clerk is an officer of the General Assembly, responsible for arrangements for the biennial meetings of the PCUSA; publishing and announcing the proceedings of the assembly; giving advisory opinions on the Constitution of the church; representing the church in its relations with other churches and faiths; and performing administrative functions for the agencies and boards of the General Assembly. The term is for four years.
The Presbyterian News Service contributed to this article.